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T he 20-million-member ICEM's World Conferences on Mining and on Diamonds, Gems, Ornaments &amp; Jewelry Production concluded last week near Johannesburg, South Africa, with a mandate to merge the two sectoral conferences for cohesion and maximum strength to affiliates. The merged Mining Sector conference also produced a four-year work plan emphasizing greater economic benefits to areas where natural resources and precious minerals are mined, and a commitment to resist efforts by global financial institutions over a &quot;one size fits all&quot; approach to mine privatization and restructuring. 
<img height="84" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/d&amp;m1.jpg" width="350" />
The Diamonds/Gems Conference was held on 22 November with 130 trade union leaders attending. The Mining Conference was held 24-25 November and 190 unionists attended. A joint session of the two conferences was held 23 November. 
 
South African National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) President Senzeni Zokwana was re-elected chair of the Mining Section, while V.R. Jaganathan of the Indian National Diamond and Ornaments Workers' Federation was elected vice chair of the newly-merged sector. The conference concluded with a march of all participants together with NUM members in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the end of apartheid in South Africa. 
 
&quot;It's a significant occurrence to have these two ICEM sections come together,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &quot;We believe strength will be maximized for all mining affiliates while identities will still be protected. 
<img height="84" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/d&amp;m2.jpg" width="350" />
&quot;For diamonds and gems, workers will now be covered from mine to retailer and we are confident the historic militancy of the Mining Sector will be a major strength for employees in diamonds, gems and precious minerals.&quot; 
 
The four-year work plan of the ICEM and mining affiliates will stress keeping more economic benefits of extracted minerals in local hands &quot;by promoting jobs and economic development through diversification.&quot; It also calls on trade unions &quot;to explore strategies to engage workers, employers, governments and communities in promoting, developing and implementing local beneficiation policies.&quot; 
 
The plan also advocates that the UN International Labour Organization's concept of Decent Work through both ILO Core Conventions and the UN's Global Compact Principles be adhered to by multinational companies. The work plan calls for &quot;meaningful, inclusive and regular social dialogue&quot; with employers at the highest level and with employers' group International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM) to establish a consultative forum for monitoring such standards. 

The work plan also calls for the global union federation to use worker networks and Global Agreements as part of a strategy to unite and organize workers worldwide; for a global campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176 on Mine Health and Safety; for affiliates to discuss asbestos mining and a way forward to implement ILO Convention 162 on employment and social impact of a ban on asbestos mining; and to continue building local partnerships in mineral extraction areas in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
Another part of the work plan calls for the mining industry to meet the human needs of its workers, families and communities. Within that, the ICEM sends a clear message to both private and public financing organisations that the &quot;'one-size-fits-all' mine privatisation and sector restructuring model&quot; is unacceptable. Citing a record of social devastation in countries that have rapidly liberalized mining enterprises, the work plan warns such financing bodies &quot;that the unilateral imposition of any restructuring that is not socially sustainable is bound to fail.&quot; 
 
The work plan concludes with a resolve condemning the invasion of Iraq, and a call to the international community for early elections in Iraq and for withdrawal of all occupying forces. The plan also calls for immediate action toward a just settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict that includes an independent and viable Palestinian State. 
<a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;doc=1381">Read the ICEM's Work Plan on Mining 
</a>

ICEM&#039;s Sectoral Conferences on Mining, Diamonds/Gems Merge

The ICEM this week recommitted to its fight for justice and fairness for US trade unionists in Sylacauga, Alabama, against French-based Imerys, a ceramics and building materials company. ICEM affiliate Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, Energy (PACE) Workers Union has filed further US labour code charges and is seeking stiffer remedies on Imerys union-busting strategies. The US government has already levied unfair labour practice violations against Imerys. 
 
PACE has also lodged a request for an investigation on Imerys by the US and French Contact Points under the OECD's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The US union has emphasized in this request Imerys' flagrant disregard for US labour statutes and that it has breached principles of the General Policies and Employment and Industrial Relations sections of the Guidelines. 
 
Imerys has willfully violated global labour standards by denying trade union rights to workers, and by intentional harassment and intimidation of trade union leaders and union supporters at its calcium carbonate plant in Alabama. PACE has won two representation elections conducted by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over the past four years and Imerys managers at the 350-person worksite continue to discourage union participation by disciplining PACE shop-floor union leaders and withholding promotions to qualified, long-term workers who are supporters of the union. 
 
An effort to oust the union in January 2004 failed by better than a two-to-one margin and managers retaliated against union leaders and supporters by threatening discipline of workers who file union grievances, and deliberately targeting PACE Local 3-516 leaders with disparate work rules. 
 
Last month, local union Chief Steward Anthony Williams was sacked for carrying out his duties as a union representative. And weeks earlier, Local 3-516 President Keith Fulbright was singled out for unjust discipline. 
 
NLRB-issued complaints against Imerys cite the firm with unlawful interference in last January's election and refusal to provide the union with necessary information in order to carry out its legal representation obligations. PACE now alleges Imerys further violated the US labour code by refusing to bargain over workplace scheduling and training, and the discipline and sacking of union leaders constitute grave infractions of US labour law and global labour standards. 
 
Imerys has responded to NLRB's complaints through its counsel that it does not intend to cooperate with the government's investigation of the complaints. The US union has asked the NLRB to assert its powers under the US code by seeking injunctive relief in federal court in order to halt the company's flagrant labour law violations. 
 
In PACE's OECD request, the union asserts Imerys breach of Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises because &quot;(M)anagement has threatened, coerced and intimidated employees exercising their rights to organize for mutual aid and protection; has effectively repudiated provisions of the collective bargaining agreement to which it is a party and made unilateral changes to important terms of employment without bargaining with the employees' designated representative; has repudiated the dispute resolution procedure provided for by the agreement; and failed to cooperate with the investigation of the competent legal authority investigating these violations.&quot; 
 
The ICEM has stood with PACE and its local union in Sylacauga since 1999 when Imerys purchased an adjacent non-union plant, combined the two workforces and declared its intent to be union-free. A subsequent NLRB election on 22 June 2000 confirmed workers' choice for union representation, and Imerys' workplace policies since have steadily degenerated to open warfare against the union and its supporters. 
 
&quot;We are shocked that Imerys has not ended its anti-union behavior in the US and are prepared to do whatever is necessary to stop Imerys from destroying the union in Alabama,&quot; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
PACE's regional Vice President Don Langham, a member of ICEM's Presidium, said the US union and ICEM teamed up before to expose Imery's brazen anti-union conduct and pledged to do it again. &quot;We obtained support from French, Belgium and British unions representing Imerys workers in Europe and that was critical in forcing Imerys to finally recognize the union,&quot; Langham said. &quot;We had to take the issue directly to shareholders at Imery's annual meeting in Paris, and we are fully prepared to do it again.&quot;

Fresh Attacks by Imerys in Long US Labour Dispute

The 20-million-member ICEM's ExxonMobil Workers' Global Network kicked off with an initial conference 3-4 November in Houston, Texas, with over 80 workers and union leaders from 14 nations gathering to discuss workers' rights and human rights at worksites of the oil super-major globally. 
 
Officially termed Global Network of ExxonMobil Workers' Solidarity, the effort to link workers and their unions of the US-based oil and gas concern was launched at the ICEM's Third Congress in Norway in August 2003. Network participants this week agreed to coordinate activities globally, and will begin with a focus on ExxonMobil's denial and obstruction of workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively. 
 
&quot;ExxonMobil is one of the most difficult companies we deal with,&quot; said Vice President Jim Pannell of the US Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, Energy (PACE) Workers' Union, chief organizer of the conference and the lead union for the network. Added PACE Vice President Gary Beevers, &quot;Mobil Oil was a company a union could deal with but when Exxon swallowed it up, fair dealing was swallowed up with it.&quot; 
 
ExxonMobil workers and their union representatives from Albania, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, C&ocirc;te d'Ivoire, France, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US attended the initial conference in Houston. 
 
&quot;We believe this network is essential to ensure fair dealing with this global company,&quot; said Nigerian PENGASSAN President Louis Brown Ogbeifun. 
 
Brian Payne, President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, said, &quot;ExxonMobil is difficult to deal with everywhere it does business, and so we have to have a global approach to it if we are to be successful.&quot; 
 
Added Abdul Rahman Mohammed, president of Malaysian KPPEPMI, a union representing ExxonMobil exploration and production workers, &quot;By working together we will have a very strong network.&quot; 
 
&quot;The ICEM promotes Global Networks because we strongly believe workers are the most competent monitors of their company's social and environmental performance,&quot; stated ICEM Mines and Energy Officer Gino Govender. 
 
At the close of the conference yesterday, delegates adopted a slogan for the network of &quot;Global Solidarity Today for a Better Tomorrow.&quot;

ICEM&#039;s ExxonMobil Network Takes Shape in Houston, Texas

The international trade union movement, including the ICEM today expressed its outrage at the expulsion of four international union representatives from Colombia on 30 October and 1 November, on the order of the government of President Alvaro Uribe Velez. It is understood that the Uribe government has drawn up a list of trade union representatives banned from entering the country, and that this list includes persons who took part in an international solidarity mission* to Colombia in September, to press the Uribe government to bring an end to the killing of Colombian trade unionists and the other means of anti-union repression which are rife in the country. Colombia has had a notorious record of violence and discrimination against trade unionists over many years, with more than 50 trade unionists murdered already this year. 
 
The four, Victor Baez Mosqueira, General Secretary of the ICFTU regional organisation for the Americas ICFTU-ORIT, Antonio Rodriguez Fritz (International Transport Workers' Federation), Rodolfo Benitez (Union Network International) and Cameron Duncan (Public Services International), were due to attend an Americas region trade union coordination meeting. Immigration officials detained them on arrival in the country and expelled them, in contradiction to Colombia's normal visa entry requirements. Three of them had taken part in a meeting with President Uribe during the September solidarity mission, where the President assured the delegation of his government's full commitment to trade union rights, and thanked them for their interest in the situation inside the country. 
 
In another development, union leaders from Great Britain, Ireland and Spain who had arrived in Colombia to attend a meeting of women trade unionists had their 60-day visas cancelled and were permitted to stay only three days in the country. 
 
The ICFTU and Global Union Federation partners including the ICEM are writing to formally protest to President Uribe at his government's actions, which constitute a &quot;totally unacceptable attempt to deny Colombian workers their legitimate right to international representation,&quot; according to ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder, who added, &quot;The Colombian government has a responsibility to protect trade unionists from violence and intimidation and to ensure that fundamental rights, enshrined in International Labour Organisation Conventions, are fully respected. This action by the government is entirely in the wrong direction, and we call upon President Uribe to restore the right of entry to all those affected, and to face up to its obligations under international law&quot;. 
 
The expulsion of the trade union leaders will also be brought formally to the International Labour Organisation, which is this week examining a number of complaints from the trade union movement over violations of freedom of association in the country. 
 
Global Unions' member organisations in countries around the world will also be raising the case with their national governments, and with intergovernmental and regional bodies including the European Union. Meetings with the Colombian Ambassadors in Brussels, Geneva and other cities are also being sought.

ICEM Joins Protest to Colombian Government

The 20-million-member ICEM is embarking on a major international campaign to challenge the increasing use by multinationals of contract and agency labour. The Global Union Federation (GUF) for the energy, mining, chemical and processed industries&rsquo; sectors held a conference on the subject in Brussels 16-17 September attended by 120 trade union leaders from ICEM affiliates in 35 countries.
&ldquo;We developed a consensus that there is something we can do that will have an affect on this adverse trend to permanent employment,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;This working conference developed a specific set of strategies which we intend to implement among our 400 affiliates on the issue of contract and agency labour.&rdquo; 
 
Foremost among strategies will be to insist on the right to consultation, negotiation and ultimately agreement prior to any company entering into a commercial contract that affects the employment status or conditions of permanent workers. The ICEM has vowed to dedicate the necessary resources so its affiliates are equipped to bring the issue before multinational firms in collective negotiations. 
 
The issue will become forefront on ICEM&rsquo;s global agenda. &ldquo;We will embark on a meaningful, long-term campaign to assist out affiliates to meet the challenges of contract and agency labour,&rdquo; said Higgs. Although the use of such labour is not a new phenomenon, it is a growing concern in developing countries and nations which have economies based on structured, long-term employment. 
 
In that respect, the campaign will also be taken to the UN&rsquo;s International Labour Organization to develop dialogue and language addressing the social effects on communities by the use of contract and agency labour. &ldquo;If there is one thing that undermines the declared position of the ILO&rsquo;s &lsquo;Decent Work&rsquo; agenda, it is the excessive and uncontrolled use of contract and agency labour,&rdquo; stated Higgs.
&nbsp;The conference also adopted measures to take the issue to the OECD, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other relevant inter-governmental agencies. The ICEM as well will develop educational programs and materials so affiliates can effectively spell out the ill-effects of temporary labour before their local and national units of government. 
 
Strategies developed at the ICEM conference benefited from trade unionists from developed countries that have faced the issue in their collective agreements now for 10-15 years. Rapid globalization and economic transformation is now taking the trend of non-permanent employment and contract labour to developing regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. 
 
The ICEM has pledged to establish a database on global service-providing companies, and will track these companies in their performance on workers&rsquo; rights, health and safety and other criteria. The Brussels-based GUF will also serve as a clearinghouse for affiliates to exchange contractual information they have with service providers who do maintain collective agreements with trade unions. 
 
But Higgs stressed that the focal point of the campaign will be aimed at primary employers in all ICEM sectors. 
 
The 16-17 September conference used an in-depth working paper based on research drawn from the experiences and interviews on contract and agency labour by leaders of ICEM affiliates over the past six months. The paper, produced by Ceclia Mather of the UK, will now be updated to reflect the conclusions and strategies set forth at the conference, and will serve as the guide for this ICEM initiative.

Strategies to Challenge Contract Labour Adopted

Union members of ICEM affiliate Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores del Neum&aacute;tico Argentina (SUTNA) took direct action to win a festering labour dispute with global rubber manufacturer Bridgestone/Firestone. The union and management, with the aid of both the national and provincial labour ministers of Argentina and Buenos Aires, put an 11-month dispute behind them by agreeing to terms 13 September over the illegal firings of 58 workers. 
 
The Japanese company also agreed to begin new talks toward a collective agreement, something managers had refused to do since expiration of a prior contract in 2001. 
 
The dispute began in October 2003 when the company unilaterally implemented a rationalization plan by imposing a new shift schedule at its Llavallol, Pcia, Buenos Aires tyre factory where 700 workers are employed. The work-rule changes circumvented Argentina&rsquo;s labour code since managers failed to negotiate with SUTNA. Both the provincial ministry and national labour ministry issued rulings last winter against Bridgestone and ordered the company to reinstate the fired workers with backpay. 
 
Despite global union pressure applied by ICEM and the United Steelworkers of America, Bridgestone failed to adhere to the government&rsquo;s directives until SUTNA union members imposed an eight-day blockade in late June and early July on suppliers delivering materials to the plant. That produced talks mediated by the Buenos Aires labour minister in which the firm agreed to recall nine workers, and a promise of further dialogue. 
 
But with no further progress, SUTNA struck the facility again last week. 
 
The subsequent discussions held inside the national labour ministry produced an agreement by Bridgestone to recall a total of 12 workers and grant all discharged workers full backpay dating to last October plus a level of social benefits exceeding those mandated by law. In addition, the firm will pay a fixed amount to each displaced worker for a period of 20 months and made a commitment to employ these workers on a sub-contracting basis as the need arises. 
 
In the presence of both the provincial and national labour ministers, Bridgestone managers Ariel Dipascuale and Daniel Benvenutti agreed to respect the independence of SUTNA at the Llavallol factory and to begin fresh dialogue toward a new collective agreement. 
 
&ldquo;We commend the leaders and members of SUTNA,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;Their resolve and perseverance in the face of longstanding employer attacks is a lesson to us all.&rdquo;

Bridgestone/Firestone Dispute Resolved in Argentina

The 20-million-member ICEM has added its voice to fairness and equity in Botswana. Standing firmly behind its mining affiliate, the Botswana Mining Workers' Union (BMWU), the Brussels-based Global Union Federation has lodged two formal complaints in separate mining disputes with the government of President Festus Mogae and the world's leading diamond producer DeBeers Group SA. 
 
The mining disputes revolve around one of the world's richest diamond operations called Debswana, a joint venture between the government of Botswana and DeBeers, and a copper, nickel and cobalt operation in the eastern part of the country near Selebi-Phikwe in which Botswana firm Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) fired the entire branch bargaining committee of the BMWU following 2004-2005 wage negotiations. 
 
At Debswana, a set of four highly developed diamond mines that accounts for nearly 75% of all Botswana's export earnings, a wage dispute has been brewing since late July for 6,000 miners. The threat of a strike has been blocked by industrial court rulings backed by President Mogae. At issue is a small pay and bonus proposal offered by the government and DeBeers in light of large pay hikes and bonuses already granted salaried staff at Debswana. 
 
&quot;Due to favourable market conditions and increased production at Debswana mines, salaried staff have been rewarded with high bonuses and a double-digit pay hike that's nearly the twice your country's current rate of inflation,&quot; wrote ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs to President Mogae. &quot;Meanwhile, some 6,000 BMWU members primarily responsible for heightened production and spiked revenues are offered miniscule pay increases and promises of bonuses a fraction of what salaried staff received.&quot; 
 
In a separate letter to DeBeers Managing Director Peter Ralfe in Johannesburg, Higgs called on the world's leading diamond producer that sees three-quarters of its total production originate in Botswana to involve itself directly in the dispute in &quot;meaningful, face-to-face dialogue with the Trade Union leaders of BMWU.&quot; 
 
Saying members of BMWU at Debswana are being treated &quot;like neglected stepchildren,&quot; Higgs said it is &quot;small wonder that miners are on the verge of striking, a strike that the ICEM-the preeminent Global Union Federation covering the mining industry-will not only support, but will build a worldwide campaign around.&quot; 
 
Debswana's four mines, Jwaneng in the southeast and Orapa, Letlhakane and Damatshaa in the north, make up one-third of Botswana's Gross Domestic Product and 45% of all government revenues. Miners are faced with an inflation rate of 7.5% and devaluation of the country's currency, the Pula, earlier this year. While the joint venture awarded senior staff and managers bonuses of BWP95,000 (US$20,356), the offer to rank-and-file miners has been BWP2,500 (US$536). The percentage pay hikes for 2004-2005 offered also fall far short of those managers received. 
 
A wage agreement for 3,000 unionised miners at the BCL copper-nickel mine near Selebi-Phikwe, majority owned by Botswana RST, appeared to be settled with a 7% incremental adjustment. But then BCL management backtracked on the deal in late July and illegally fired the entire BMWU committee of the Selebi-Phikwe Branch. The reason cited in a letter was that union negotiators possessed financial information that the union considers central to their workplace and essential for bargaining. 
 
&quot;Such flagrant disregard for basic labour rights is appalling!&quot; wrote Higgs to President Mogae. &quot;Collective Bargaining is based on shared information, and through such, a shared trust develops between labour and management that more times than not propels the enterprise to success.&quot; 
 
Miners at BCL have threatened to strike over the sackings and issued a petition asking the four top managers of the mine resign. On 17 August, some 250 machinists at BCL did strike, a strike that was not sanctioned by the BMWU. 
 
In part, the BMWU petition states: &quot;We have a management which is obsessed with doing what they call managing the company. They hide behind all manner of rules not to achieve the company objectives but to 1.) Prove that they are the management and have unchecked power to wield; 2.) Frustrate and destroy the union. Their stated intention but which they deny when challenged; 3.) Block all progressive thinking.&quot; 
 
The ICEM, with over 400 affiliates in 125 countries, has offered its assistance to the government of Botswana to help settle the disputes.

ICEM Protests Two Mine Disputes in Botswana

The 20-million-member ICEM has vowed to strengthen the UN&rsquo;s Global Compact by pushing for integrity measures that would make the Compact more credible for corporations signing onto the principles of social responsibility. A week after a watershed Leaders Summit in New York City on UN General Security Kofi Annan&rsquo;s four-year-old initiative, General Secretary Fred Higgs issued a summary report on the Compact and laid out global labour&rsquo;s future involvement.
<img height="197" alt="" src="" width="350" />
 
Higgs was one of four members of the Global Compact&rsquo;s 17-member Advisory Committee charged with drafting integrity measures leading into the June 24 Leaders Summit. 
 
&ldquo;In developing these procedures,&rdquo; wrote Higgs, &ldquo;it became clear there would be a need to for some ultimate sanction if all other efforts in getting a company to comply failed.&rdquo; That sanction, he added, &ldquo;would be to de-list the company from the Global Compact register.&rdquo; 
 
Higgs also identified another hurdle to clear to make the Compact work. &ldquo;At the same time as these integrity measures were being developed, other logistical problems regarding management of the Global Compact initiatives were being realized. The most significant of these is the inadequate administrative resources available to manage an initiative involving now over 1,500 companies.&rdquo; 
<img height="166" alt="" src="" width="350" />
 
Higgs reiterated in the report what he said during a speech at the opening of the summit: &ldquo;A prerequisite for the ongoing support of the global unions for this initiative was that any reconstituted structure for taking the Compact forward would need to include integrity measures and an ultimate sanction for those companies that clearly have no intention of applying the ten principles for which they had signed up to.&rdquo; 

Higgs is one of two labour leaders on the Advisory Committee, and has been labour&rsquo;s voice on the Compact. Kofi Annan announced at the close of the Leaders Summit that a small group would examine the current structure and governance of the Global Compact over the next 12 months. 
 
The Global Compact&rsquo;s principles are now voluntary and encompass areas of human rights, labour standards and the environment. The labour standards include freedom of association, right to collective bargaining, abolition of forced, compulsory and child labour, and elimination of employment and job discrimination. At the summit, the tenth principle was added, an anti-corruption measure. The ICEM welcomed the addition and calls it &ldquo;a necessary standard that by its very nature calls for review through workable integrity measures.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is the dominant trade union federation in mining, energy and process industries sectors with over 400 affiliates in 125 countries. 
For a report by Fred Higgs on the UN Global Compact Summit, <a href="/index.php?id=97&amp;doc=1395&amp;la=EN">click here</a>.

UN’s Global Compact Needs Enforcement Mechanism, Says ICEM

The 20-million-member ICEM, the predominant global trade union federation in the oil industry, today applauded the victory by Union Sindical Obrera de la Industria Del Petroleo (USO) in Colombia in the 37-day strike that concluded yesterday with state-owned Ecopetrol. 
 
An agreement was reached 26 May between USO and the Colombian government that will roll back newly written contracts with favorable terms to the oil multinationals on the exploration and production of oil fields, thus preserving the company and keeping oil reserves in the hands of the citizens of Colombia. 
 
&quot;We extend our congratulations to the leaders and members of USO in this pivotal strike to keep in Colombia what rightfully belongs in Colombia,&quot; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
The victory, in essence, avoids the privatisation of Ecopetrol. The new agreement calls for oil fields now operated by outside firms to revert to Ecopetrol control once the contracts expire. 
 
Some 250 USO members including President Gabriel Alvis who were sacked after the government declared the strike illegal will retain their full pension rights and have an opportunity to win their jobs back through the arbitration process. Ecopetrol management and the government had sought to eliminate oil workers' pensions, as well as reducing the workforce. 
 
The strike, which began 22 April, has caused production losses of up to 500 million Colombian pesos per day (US$180,000), according to published reports by analysts. The government has claimed that contingency plans put in place prior to the strike would not affect refinery or oil field production. 
 
The ICEM spearheaded a global drive among energy unions and other affiliates to back USO by registering direct protests with the Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe.

Colombia Oil Strike Ends in Victory

A Global Framework Agreement was signed today in Moscow by ICEM, the global union federation's affiliate, Russian Oil, Gas and Construction Workers Union (ROGWU), and OAO Lukoil, the major Russian oil and energy firm. It marks the first time a new Russian-headquartered multinational has signed a Global Framework Agreement. 
 

<img height="181" src="" width="384" alt="" />
Seated from left: ICEM Gen. Sec. Fred Higgs, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov and ROGWU President Lev Mironov.
Global Agreements between trade unions and multinationals commit companies to internationally recognised standards and principles on workers' rights, employment and corporate social responsibility regarding workplace health and safety, plus an adherence to sound environmental practices. 
 
The Lukoil Agreement is now the 20-million-member ICEM's eighth Global Framework Agreement signed with a multinational. 
 
&quot;Lukoil is the leading Russian oil company on the international scene,&quot; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &quot;I see this Agreement as taking Lukoil's partnership with trade unions in Russia to recognition of trade unions and workers' rights across the world.&quot; 
 
ROGWU President Lev Mironov commented, &quot;I see the signing of the Global Agreement between Lukoil, ICEM and our union as an important landmark in both Russian and in international contexts. 
 
&quot;Firstly, it would be excellent if other successful Russian companies followed the Lukoil example and became actively engaged in the practical building of the socially oriented state, which is so often discussed here. Secondly, it is inspiring that the first truly transnational company from Russia emerging as an active player in the global economy declares its commitment to the traditional Russian value of caring for working people.&quot; 
 
OAO Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov stated, &quot;Today's document is the first Global Agreement signed by the ICEM with a company from the former Socialist countries and the CIS. I'm very pleased that this company is Lukoil. The fact that one of the most powerful international trade union organisations invites us on a mission of cooperation witnesses that Lukoil fulfills Russian law, but also meets the world standards in labour relations.&quot; 
 
The Agreement links a Lukoil pledge on human rights to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on trade union rights as enshrined in ILO Conventions and the UN's Global Compact. 
 
The Agreement, in which a review will occur annually to assure joint actions are undertaken to further develop sound work practices, states in its preamble: &quot;Lukoil and ICEM affirm their support for fundamental human rights in the communities affected by Lukoil Group activities and in the workplace. Furthermore, the Parties recognise the importance of protecting the health, safety and well being of those at work, and share a sense of joint responsibility for the impact that work and company practices may have on the natural and human environment.&quot; 
 
The ICEM now is signatory with three global oil firms to Global Agreements: Norwegian Statoil, Italian Eni and Lukoil. Other Global Agreements in other industrial sectors for ICEM includes Agreements with the Spanish power firm Endesa, Norwegian pulp and paper producer Norske Skog, German rubber products maker Freudenberg &amp; Co., South African minerals group AngloGold, and Swedish forest products group Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA). 
 
The ICEM is a global union federation with 390 affiliated unions in 120 countries. The industrial sectors of ICEM involvement include oil, energy, mining, chemicals and bioscience, rubber, pulp and paper, precious minerals, and glass, ceramics and cement industries.

ICEM, Russian Affiliate, Lukoil Sign Global Agreement

Archive

ICEM's Sectoral Conferences on Mining, Diamonds/Gems Merge

Fresh Attacks by Imerys in Long US Labour Dispute

ICEM's ExxonMobil Network Takes Shape in Houston, Texas

ICEM Joins Protest to Colombian Government

Strategies to Challenge Contract Labour Adopted

Bridgestone/Firestone Dispute Resolved in Argentina

ICEM Protests Two Mine Disputes in Botswana

UN’s Global Compact Needs Enforcement Mechanism, Says ICEM

Colombia Oil Strike Ends in Victory

ICEM, Russian Affiliate, Lukoil Sign Global Agreement

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